


see the people walking down the street (the We Got the Beat extended mix)

by Highsmith (quimtessence)



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Friendship, Future Fic, Gen, Heist, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Humour, POV Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Paris (City), Post-Movie: The Old Guard (2020), Remix, Remix Revival 2020, Sequel, Team Bonding, Team as Family, That AU Where the Team Forgives Booker Early
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26734585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quimtessence/pseuds/Highsmith
Summary: "It's just the Louvre. I could have everything back in a day if I really wanted them."Famous last words.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache & Booker | Sebastien & Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf & Nicky | Nicolò
Comments: 33
Kudos: 204
Collections: Remix Revival 2020





	see the people walking down the street (the We Got the Beat extended mix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [static_abyss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/static_abyss/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Safe House](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25619077) by [static_abyss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/static_abyss/pseuds/static_abyss). 



> Title from "We Got the Beat" by The Go-Go's.

As he bites into his croissant, Joe has a thought, singular, along the lines of, _This is a stupid idea._

It's a thought he'd had before in relation to the things that they do, although, usually, it's more precise than that, maybe a _this isn't the best plan we've ever had_ or a smidgen of _this is the least awful choice_. Not so much this time. This time, he's patently sure they're being stupid. However, they did retrieve his painting out of the Met, and they did so happen to be back in France, and, well, Booker did say it was his _favourite_ knife. And Nicky used to have, once upon a time, a favourite knife, lost at sea during a shipwreck centuries ago, during a stormy night that's best left unremembered.

Therefore, Joe fully understands about the knife. He's having less trouble understanding how they ever thought this would be a good idea. There's a small chance it may have been _his_ idea to begin with, but he'd rather avoid assigning blame until _after_ everything's gone tits-up. Not that it necessarily will, but Joe's more of a realist these days.

"You know, France has changed. Paris has changed. It used to be easier to retrieve one's belongings," comments Booker, who is currently standing next to him finishing his own croissant and sipping on his second coffee of the day. It's barely half past eight. There is already a queue of people waiting for opening hours at the Louvre. It's bound to be inordinately busy, considering they can see the crowd from their spot a few metres from the metro station across the street.

"When you say _favourite_ —"

*

"Look, it's not like I don't trust you guys," Nile says in a way which makes Joe think she maybe doesn't trust them, "but a sledgehammer doesn't sound, uh."

Booker swallows noisily around the rim of his cup. "I agree. I say we break in through the ceiling."

"Is that your third coffee?" Nicky sniffs. They're standing in the longest queue known to man, waiting to purchase a ticket in order to, as Booker put it, "case the joint". (It's entirely possible Book's been spending too much time watching old films on Nile's laptop, but at least it keeps him out of trouble.) Andy had to go use the lavatories a long time ago, and has probably gotten herself lost. They're not even technically in the museum yet.

Joe knows knows for a fact it's Booker's _fourth_ coffee of the day, but, considering he's reasonably certain at this point that they won't be able to get him his knife back, he's willing to overlook the part where Book might just be slowly giving himself a heart attack.

*

Andy didn't get lost.

Or, well, maybe she did. Joe would ask her, were it not for all the running from the museum security they're all currently doing.

He's reasonably sure guillotines are no longer in use, but, just in case, he runs faster. He'd rather avoid, if at all possible, having his neck forcibly removed from the rest of his body. Dismemberment is and has always been _the worst_.

*

In a completely random turn of events, they make it onto the metro.

"I should have pretended I didn't know you people," Nile pants. Everyone else around them is pretending they don't know them either.

"Got your knife," Andy says, while professing said knife to Booker. Well, presumably it is the knife, seeing as she's apparently giving him a bundle of _something_ , which seems smart what with the fact that they're trying not to cause a panic by brandishing weapons in a public place unless strictly necessary. (The definition of "strictly necessary" is different from one member of the team to another, but Joe's sure they can all agree this doesn't qualify.)

Booker takes it from her and puts it in his pocket. He doesn't look at any of them for a while, even though all of them are obviously staring his way, but then he does finally turn to make eye contact with Andy, clearly thanking her with his eyes, then glances from Nicky to Nile to Joe. And either the sound of them hurtling through the underside of Paris or the afterglow of the situation, or something different altogether, makes him burst into laughter. It starts out slow, barely there, could have ended with one burst, but then he goes on under his breath for far too long, and Andy smiles at him before she, too, is laughing.

And from there, well, Joe _can't take it_. It's far too ridiculous. Nicky can't either. Nile is trying to be serious, but Joe can see the corners of her mouth twitching and, before long, she's quietly laughing to herself seemingly despite it all. Which is how the five of them end up laughing harder than ever, and maybe they're being given a wide berth, but Joe hasn't felt like he's had a laugh like this in a long time.

*

Nicky got them a _nice_ safe house in Paris about half a century ago. They've been here multiple times throughout the years, and it's definitely better than anything Andy has. Booker claims his own got blown up so long ago he hardly remembers where it is, but Joe's always had a running theory Booker might be holding out on them, might have a place that's all his that he isn't willing to share, and that's all right, they share as much as they are comfortable sharing, as much of their lives as they can, because family doesn't need to be every single aspect for it to count.

The flat would be considered huge even if this weren't Paris. As it is, it resembles a palace more than anything else, but that also means they can have some measure of privacy. Andy gets the second bedroom and Nile and Booker are willing to take the cot and the couch respectively, especially as the living room is big enough to house an entire family all on its own.

They end up extending the couch and dragging the television set from one of the bedrooms into the living room, and Nile connects the laptop she uses to communicate with Copley to it. Joe's always impressed, just a little, at her technical know-how, even though she always claims it's barely anything at all, anyone her generation would know how to do this stuff, but _he_ doesn't know how to do this stuff, so he's legitimately impressed each and every time.

"He's taken care of the CCTV footage. Can't do much about the social media evidence until tomorrow, but it's minimal at this stage," she tells them, but Andy doesn't seem to care. (Mortality changes people. Joe thinks maybe it's for the best.)

Booker, having taken the knife out, is over at the end of the couch polishing it. It _is_ a nice knife. (Booker catches him staring and promises to let him borrow it.)

With the TV connected to the laptop, it's easy to pick something to watch. A comfortable film that's not _too_ historically inaccurate. All of them end up falling asleep before it's even half-over.

**Author's Note:**

> ETA October 22nd '20: Catch me on [Tumblr](https://rhubarbdreams.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
